Most payments today are typically performed by a user selecting a payment method from a wallet. A user generally selects from a plethora of payment cards such as credit, debit, gift, or some other payment means such as trusty cash.
Other more advanced prior art systems and methods of identifying the user as well as authorizing the payment action are known. WIPO published patent application WO 2011163071 is one such method wherein biometric information collected from a user is matched with data stored in a biometric database. A biometric match then authorizes payment to a vending machine specifically.
Applications of this type typically regulate the sale of restricted products such as alcohol to consumers whose biometrics match the required regulatory standards mandatory for purchasing such items at specific locations such as vending machines. Such locations are not typically staffed by a sales person and thus the use of biometrics is necessary.
US published patent application 2011/0282785 describes using a gesture to authenticate a user prior to accessing any payment data for transmission over a near field communication (NFC) link. According to the patent application, a user is required to make a user-defined gesture above a touch sensitive area on a “target” device to gain access to payment or transaction information on a wireless device. Access to the payment or transaction information is authorized if the gesture matches a previously-recorded user-defined gesture. The user can then conduct the payment or transaction using the wireless device.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,913,028 also describes a gesture-based method, but describes a “tactile” force as well to take a mobile device or a non-transitory computing device from a first state to a second state specifically to change an unlocked state or a music playlist.
US published patent application 2014/0064566 authorizes access to payment information from a gesture captured by a camera.
Other prior art such as US published patent application 2015/0019432 utilizes motion of a mobile device to authorize a payment. Prior art of this type typically uses a device to detect a particular gesture through sensors, such as a gyroscope, within the mobile device. A signal representing the gesture is then sent to a passive device using a peer-to-peer connection.
Similarly, Canadian published patent application 2860114 utilizes a device containing gesture-detecting sensors including an accelerometer, a video camera, or a magnetic field sensor. Once a gesture is received from the user on the mobile device, it is sent to a hub.
US published patent application 2014/0300540 describes a mobile device used to capture a user gesture, which is then translated into a coefficient. This gesture is then communicated to a hub either connected to or internal to a given interface. Herein, a gesture is specifically associated with accounts online and over a network, increasing the possibility of an attack.
Similar to US published patent application 2014/0300540, US published patent application 2011/0251954 uses a touch gesture captured on a mobile device to access a specific online financial account to make a payment.
Likewise, US published patent application 2010/0217685 uses a user-based gesture to make a “commerce-related action” in a “networked environment”.
In CN 103268436 A, a gesture is used to make a payment at a given payment terminal.
US published patent application 2012/0330833 describes a method wherein a user inputs a gesture which is then used in correlation with an image of the user captured by a camera to identify the user with a specific account that may be used to make a transaction at a terminal including a POS (point of sale) system.
EPO publication 2690850 describes information sent from one device to another with a throwing-like gesture. Herein, when a user wants to send information, he or she will take the first device and make a throwing gesture with that device in the direction of the receiving device.
US issued U.S. Pat. No. 9,292,731 describes a gesture-based signature authentication system and method. A user offers a gesture-based signature that is stored for later use as a template. The user later offers a gesture-based signature for authentication. The later gesture-based signature is compared with the template gesture and if in substantial agreement the stored gesture-based signature is deemed authentic.
US published patent application 2012/0324559 describes a user gesture received by a first device, which extracts features, then translates those features into a token. The token is then sent to a second electronic device, which can either derive another token from the original token, or use the original token. Finally, the secondary electronic device will send the token (either the original or the reproduced) to a server.
WIPO publication 2014/041458 describes a mobile system that is used to make payments in a mobile currency while utilizing a mobile account to generate a barcode containing the payment information. In some embodiments, a gesture “of any body part” is utilized to access a single mobile account.
The prior art references consist of a single biometric or gesture authenticating the user to allow access to data such as financial data or payment data. Some prior art references describe methods to access data to send to a mobile device, hub or remote server to authenticate and execute a payment. Several implementations of said prior art utilize one or more online services to perform authentication and approval for a transaction.
The prior art references consist of the gesture unlocking access to all accounts, but not to a specific account selectable from a multitude of accounts. Such gesture-based prior art describes techniques that simply serve as a “graphical password” to access a device and/or execute payment.